[MISSION 2022] INSIGHTS CURRENT AFFAIRS ( 8 November 2021) REVISION THROUGH MCQS – INSIGHTSIAS

Ans: (a)

Explanation: About Adi Shankaracharya:

• Born in Kaladi village on the bank of the Periyar, the largest river in Kerala
• He was a disciple of the scholar
• He was constantly on the move — bearing the flag of Advaita Vedanta, challenging prevailing philosophical traditions including Buddhism and Jainism.
• He is believed to have established the ritual practices at the Badri and Kedar dhams.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/11/08/12-foot-statue-of-adi-shankaracharya-unveiled-at-kedarnath/

Ans: (d)

Explanation: here the directive word is not correct!!

• Scientific Name- Panthera pardus.
• Listed in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
• Included in Appendix I of CITES.
• Listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
• Nine subspecies of the leopard have been recognized, and they are distributed across Africa and Asia.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/11/08/extinction-risk-for-leopards-in-north-india/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• In August 2021, the Union Environment Ministry released a new report titled- Status of Leopards, Co-predators and Megaherbivores-2018.
• The report was released on July 29, 2021 — World Tiger Day.
• As per the report:
  • India’s official leopard count has increased 63 per cent from 2014-2018. There were 12,852 leopards in the country in 2018 (7,910 in 2014).
  • The largest number of leopards have been estimated in Madhya Pradesh (3,421) followed by Karnataka (1,783) and Maharashtra (1,690).

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/11/08/extinction-risk-for-leopards-in-north-india/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• S1 and S2: Large but poorly known amounts of methane are trapped in the sediments beneath the sea floor (in Tundra region and elsewhere), frozen into a form of water ice called methane hydrate.
• At low temperatures the methane hydrates on the sea floor are stable, but if the water and the sea floor become warmer, then the hydrates can break down. Because microorganisms then oxidize the resulting methane gas to form the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2), methane hydrates have recently become a topic of intense discussion within the context of climate change. See https://worldoceanreview.com/en/wor-1/energy/methane-hydrates/
• S3: Methane is relatively short-lived in the atmosphere; a molecule of methane is oxidized to water and carbon dioxide within a decade or so, mainly by reaction with another trace gas, the hydroxyl radical OH-. Thus, unlike the case of carbon dioxide (which stays in the atmosphere longer than methane), a concerted effort to reduce methane emissions would have almost immediate results in terms of reduction of greenhouse effect. See http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/virtualmuseum/climatechange1/03_3.shtml

Refer: UPSC CSE 2019

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• Established in 1974 as per framework of the OECD, IEA is a Paris based autonomous intergovernmental organisation.
• MISSION – To ensure reliable, affordable and clean energy for its member countries and beyond.
  • Its mission is guided by four main areas of focus: energy security, economic development, environmental awareness and engagement worldwide
• Headquarters (Secretariat): Paris, France.
• Roles and functions:
  • Established in the wake of the 1973-1974 oil crisis, to help its members respond to major oil supply disruptions, a role it continues to fulfill today.
  • IEA’s mandate has expanded over time to include tracking and analyzing global key energy trends, promoting sound energy policy, and fostering multinational energy technology cooperation.
• Composition and eligibility:
  • It has 30 members at present. IEA family also includes eight association countries.
  • A candidate country must be a member country of the OECD. But all OECD members are not IEA members.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/11/08/what-is-the-global-methane-pledge/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• The cabinet mission plan of 1946 proposed that there shall be a Union of India which was to be empowered to deal with the defense, foreign affairs and communications.
• The Union Government and its legislature were to have limited powers, dealing with Finance, Foreign Affairs and Communications. The union would have powers necessary to raise the finances to manage the subjects.
• All subjects other than the Union Subjects and all the residuary powers would be vested in the provinces.
• Thus, the Cabinet Mission plan proposed a weak Centre with Provincial autonomy – essentially proposing a federal structure of government.
• Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1946_Cabinet_Mission_to_India

Refer: UPSC CSE 2015

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• Namdapha National Park is the largest protected area in the Eastern Himalaya biodiversity hotspot and is located in Arunachal Pradesh in Northeast India.
• The area is also known for extensive Dipterocarp forests, comprising the northwestern parts of the ecoregion of Mizoram-Manipur-Kachin rain forests.
• The habitat changes with increasing altitude from tropical moist forests to Montane forests, temperate forests and at the higher elevations, to Alpine meadows and perennial snow. The park has extensive bamboo forests and secondary forests in addition to the primary forests.

Refer: UPSC CSE 2015

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

Refer: UPSC CSE 2015

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• The terms feudalism and feudal system were generally applied to the early and central Middle Ages—the period from the 5th century, when central political authority in the Western empire disappeared, to the 12th century, when kingdoms began to emerge as effective centralized units of government (the period is claimed as 9th-15th century by Wikipedia).
  Broadly defined, it was a way of structuring society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour (lord-vassal relationship).
  Use of the term feudalism to describe India applies a concept of medieval European origin, according to which the landed nobility held lands from the Crown in exchange for military service, and vassals were in turn tenants of the nobles, while the peasants (villeins or serfs) were obliged to live on their lord’s land and give him homage, labor, and a share of the produce, notionally in exchange for military protection. The term Indian feudalism is an attempt to classify Indian history according to a European model.
  Feudalism, in its various forms, usually emerged as a result of the decentralization of an empire: especially in the Carolingian empires which both lacked the bureaucratic infrastructure necessary to support cavalry without the ability to allocate land to these mounted troops.
  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feudalism
• http://www.britannica.com/topic/feudalism

Refer: UPSC CSE 2015